An ancient copse set within 12ha of walled parkland in Scriven, near
Knaresborough, is now open for the first time, following safety work on
its broad-leaf woodland species.

The work, which took about six weeks to complete, included initial
surveying by council staff, followed by arboriculture work by C&C
Contracting and fencing by Ray Skelton.

Harrogate Borough Council head of parks and open spaces Patrick Kilburn
said: "We had to take out a couple of dead and dangerous trees and then
we put some security fencing around the older oaks.

"It's almost like Sherwood Forest because they're so old and there are
hundreds of trees in total."

The parkland was bequeathed to the council by Miss Winifred Jacob Smith,
the last surviving member of a prominent farming family, for people to
"enjoy the freedom and beauty that public parks bring". It was
previously home to the family's pedigree Ayrshire cattle herd.

Although the land was transferred to the council before Christmas, the
required safety work meant that it only opened to the public last
week.

Kilburn added: "We've had a lot of interest in the parkland and people
can go in there to walk, play or take their dogs out, although it is
rather wet at the moment."